They would love to be perfect mothers. Instead, they feel ashamed and inadequate, and fearful that their children might inherit their eating difficulties. Imagine an ordinary Norwegian home, where Mum is having dinner with her three-year-old son. Underneath the surface of this seemingly idyllic scene, the woman is fighting a fierce battle with herself, thinking: “I wish he could finish eating, so I can go to the bathroom and throw up.” This is just one of many real-life stories Kristine Rørtveit has listened to while working on her thesis…

UK psychiatrists have announced they are concerned about the harmful influence of the media on people’s body image and are calling for a new editorial code to stop the promotion of unhealthily thin bodies and making eating disorders appear glamorous. The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ (RCPsychs’) Eating Disorders Section said the media should be portraying images of more diverse body shapes and helping people feel positive about their bodies…

Several maladaptive eating behaviors, beyond anorexia, can affect women. Indeed, some 10 to 15 percent of women have maladaptive eating behaviours and attitudes according to new study from the Université de Montréal and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. “Our results are disquieting,” says Lise Gauvin, a professor at the Université de Montréal Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. “Women are exposed to many contradictory messages..

The premise that hunger makes food look more appealing is a widely held belief just ask those who cruise grocery store aisles on an empty stomach, only to go home with a full basket and an empty wallet. Prior research studies have suggested that the so-called hunger hormone ghrelin, which the body produces when it’s hungry, might act on the brain to trigger this behavior. New research in mice by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists suggest that ghrelin might also work in the brain to make some people keep eating “pleasurable” foods when they’re already full…

In an unprecedented show of concern, The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), Eating Disorder Coalition (EDC), International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals (IADEP), and National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) have joined forces and are urging focus on health and lifestyle rather than weight as a measurement of well-being. In late November, media stories reported that an American university implemented a new strategy for combating rising weights by requiring students to be weighed during their freshman year…

Binge eating disorder typically includes periods of excessive overeating. However, a person with a binge eating disorder does not subsequently induce purging (vomiting), as is the case with bulimia. Binge eating can occur on its own, or alongside other disorders or conditions, such as Prader-Willi disorder, or a lesion of the hypothalamus gland.

Existing research shows that rates of binge eating among adult women is virtually identical across race. However, among college age women, it’s a different story: Caucasian women are more apt to exhibit binge eating behaviors than African American women, according to a study presented at this month’s annual scientific meeting of the Obesity Society.

Although most people with bulimia and binge eating disorders wait many years before seeking help, a new review shows that psychological treatment can make a large difference and that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most effective talk therapy for these disorders.

By raising levels of self-confidence and motivation for change adventure therapy is a valuable tool in the treatment of women with eating disorders. This is the finding of research by Dr Kaye Richards and colleagues which will be presented today, Friday 11 September 2009, at the 5th International Adventure Therapy Conference.

Scientists led a rat to the fatty food, but they couldn’t make it eat. Using an animal model of binge eating, University of Missouri researchers discovered that deactivating the basolateral amygdala, a brain region involved in regulating emotion, specifically blocked consumption of a fatty diet. Surprisingly, it had no effect on the rat wanting to look for the food repeatedly.